Hans de Vreij Profile picture
Dutch journalist. Was security and defence editor at Radio Netherlands. Earlier: correspondent in Brussels, Geneva, Prague, East Berlin. Studied Russian.

Feb 20, 2022, 11 tweets

A USAF Global Hawk flying over Ukraine has been focusing exclusively on southern Belarus and southwestern Russia. Is the threat there more serious than that in the Donbass? Or might there be another asset over east Ukraine which doesn't use a transponder? flightradar24.com/0/2adfd37d

The USAF Global Hawk is still on station and has been joined by JAKE11, a Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint operating out of RAF Mildenhall (UK).

The USAF Global Hawk is returning to base (Sigonella, Sicily). The Rivet Joint continues to monitor southern Belarus/southwestern Russia.

The next USAF Global Hawk (FORTE11) has already left Sicily for a night mission over Ukraine. flightradar24.com/FORTE11/2ae24b…. h/t @SevereWeather_N

The first thing Global Hawk UAV FORTE11 did when arriving tonight (local time) in the airspace of Ukraine is monitoring the area north of Kharkiv. Must be the area of greatest concern...

Meanwhile a NATO Global Hawk (called a RQ-4D Phoenix by them) has also departed from Sicily at about 2200hrs UTC. Callsign UAVGH000. NATO has five of these UAV's on the Italian island. Their transponder is usually turned off once over the Black Sea. h/t @SevereWeather_N

The USAF Global Hawk FORTE11 is still monitoring the border area between Ukraine and Russia north of Kharkiv.

During the night (local time) the USAF RQ-4B Global Hawk FORTE11 looked exclusively at the area north of Kharkiv in NE Ukraine. Probably safe to surmise this is where a new Russian invasion could materialize. flightradar24.com/FORTE11/2ae24b…

Now watching SE Belarus, north of Kyiv.

USAF RQ-4B Global Hawk FORTE11 is back to watching the area north of Kharkiv. Noteworthy that in recent days the Donbass has been ignored by the Global Hawks, although tensions there are reported to be running high. Bigger threat from the North?

Global Hawk FORTE11 is returning to base (Sicily).

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling